The 395 and Owens Valley-Eastern Sierra Region

We have had bearable smoke here in the valley for the last week but the afternoon and evening winds are pushing most of it down south. It is getting old though, seems like two months already since the Tamarack and Dixie fires started. My buddy in the bay area said they are getting a lot of smoke now from the Caldor fire.

 

It was pretty smoky here yesterday. Could not see Mt Hamilton from Santa Clara.

 

Just talked to a guy I know. LEO is ticketing anyone entering Coyote Flat. $400 fine.

 

Ha! There were two LEO's parked up Glacier road yesterday. They're gonna generate some income this weekend!

 

Sorry, I'm a little dense, what is LEO? A TLA?

 

Law Enforcement Officer.

 

Now you know what a LEO is.... What's a TLA?

 

Three Letter Acronym

 

I guess the forest closures are being lifted for CA forests, except for SoCal (Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres, and San Bernardino).

So, I think that means the Sierra and Inyo forests are open again as of this Thursday.

How's the air up there?



Edit: Here's the news release:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD953056

 

Actually not looking too bad up in the Mono area today...



But who knows how things will look next weekend...


Edit: Actually, it looks like there are two fast-growing fires near Kings Canyon / Sequoia that have shut down the national park there. Started just last week.

The smoke situation actually looked really good last week, at least on satellite. Now the valleys are quickly filling up with smoke again...

 

I have been thinking about going to Sequoia & Kings. Just looking at the park website, it seems like it's pretty much day use only at this point (if you can get in).

 

Air quality looked like garbage today on the webcams due to the new fires in Sequoia.

 

I had a short trip planned for this upcoming weekend as well, had to canc because of those new fires caused by the lightning storms. Super bummed.

 

That was my plan as well. But several parts of the road are closed and there’s a possibility of evacuations. Never mind it’s probably smoky as well.

Lately, I haven’t been able to catch a vacation break.

 

Ugh… the southern part of Owens Valley is filling with smoke something ugly. You could watch it pour into the valley yesterday and today in the afternoons in satellite imagery and watch the Owens Lake dust cams turn into a brown smudge. The KNP Complex and Windy Fire both pouring out smoke while now the huge northern fires aren’t hardly burning a thing anymore.

I’d scheduled a NWDV trip soon but might give that a pass…

 

Yep I've got a trip in the near future soon too. Fingers crossed it somewhat clears up.

 

I'm holding my breath for clean air and good weather.

 

Well, I decided to stay home this weekend and take my truck apart instead. These fires are definitely belching huge amounts of smoke into the valleys, mostly to the north. Sounds like weather conditions are generally holding steady -- not ideal, but at least unlikely to produce the most explosive and destructive modes of fire growth. Here's hoping the hard-working folks fighting these fires are able to save the Sequoia groves!



I remember watching the thundercoulds roll over the LA basin last week when this all started. It was remarkable to see, but also scary wondering what fires might be started. I tried climbing the hill behind my house to do some photography, but slipped and fell. I had to get my camera professionally cleaned this week.

 

Looking at the webcams around Owens Lake right now is showing some of the worst air quality I've ever seen. Mono Lake however is a little better.

 

Yeah, it's pretty bad. The Windy fire and KNP complex are south west of us. The wind generally blows NE. My wife is cancelling a backpacking trip she's wanted to do for years because of the smoke.